The Food and Drug Administration’s legal rationale for regulating e-cigarettes as “tobacco products,” even though they do not contain tobacco, is that they deliver nicotine derived from tobacco. But e-cigarettes do not always do that. There are many varieties of nicotine-free e-liquids, sold in disposable e-cigarettes, replaceable cartridges and bottles for refilling vaporizer tanks. Do those liquids and the systems in which they are used also qualify as tobacco products?

On August 8, a final rule from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) goes into effect that tobacco control experts say could dramatically change the status of e-cigarettes in this country. The rule extends the agency’s regulatory authority to all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, and requires manufacturers to report product ingredients and undergo the agency’s premarket review to receive marketing authorization.

Legal challenges are mounting against the Food and Drug Administration’s move to regulate cigars and e-cigarettes, which for the first time would be treated just like traditional tobacco products under new rules.

As many as five lawsuits have been filed against the agency over the rules finalized in May, which require any product that hit store shelves after February 2007 to go through a costly approval process.

On May 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized a rule known as the Deeming Regulation, extending its authority under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, or Tobacco Act, to all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), also known as vapor products.

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It sounds good, but when all the facts are known, some enduring myths about the new regulations emerge from the mist. Do the new regulations actually accomplish the following?